Observe Issue 11

A special edition

21 June 2017

Work. We spend most of our lives doing it, and it never seems to get any easier. Yet, if you believe some academics, over the next 30 years 47 per cent of all jobs will be automated. Then what? A life of blissful leisure? An economic meltdown as more and more people scramble for the few ‘jobs’ that remain? Conversely, some experts believe that the vast majority of children currently in primary school will end up in jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. Although nobody, it seems, is prepared to hazard a guess at what those ‘jobs’ might actually be. And what about the effect of all this on leadership, talent, the rise of Generation Z, the new gig economy and the impact on our health and wellbeing as, meanwhile, we continue to work longer and longer hours?

Conversely, some experts believe that the vast majority of children currently in primary school will end up in jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. Although nobody, it seems, is prepared to hazard a guess at what those ‘jobs’ might actually be. And what about the effect of all this on leadership, talent, the rise of Generation Z, the new gig economy and the impact on our health and wellbeing as, meanwhile, we continue to work longer and longer hours?

This issue of Observe ranges across all of these critical areas. You can read an incisive comment from business leaders and Millennials as they offer their own take on where work and the workplace are heading. You’ll hardly be surprised to learn that automation, artificial intelligence and the true meaning of work in a digital age are top of mind.

But among all of this serious content we have some lighter interludes, including a look at how work has been depicted in film over the years – remember Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times? – and an imaginary ‘day-in-the-life’ of a robot in the year 2030. He’s called iZak, by the way.

Add to this a range of opinion pieces, a look at universal basic income and an insight into the world of deep learning, and there is something in this issue to engage even the most curious mind!